Foran lauds Johnson’s role in crucial Brisbane win
Warriors five-eighth Kieran Foran says halves partner Shaun Johnson holds the key to their NRL finals hopes following Saturday night’s morale-boosting 28-10 win over Brisbane at Mt Smart Stadium.
With the Warriors desperately needing a win following back-to-back losses to Penrith and St George Illawarra, Johnson answered his critics with his best performance of the season so far to end the Broncos’ six-game winning streak.
The 26-year-old scored a trademark brilliant individual try in the 19th minute and played a hand in two more first-half four-pointers to centre Blake Ayshford and captain Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and kicked four conversions.
Foran lauded Johnson’s contribution in getting the side back on track after a difficult past fortnight and said the Warriors need the Kiwis No 7 to maintain his impressive form to give them any hope of making their first finals appearance since 2011.
“He’s going to be the key man for us,” said Foran.
“If we’re going to go deep into this competition, we need Shaun firing on all cylinders, so if he can keep building on what he did [against Brisbane], it will be great for the side.”
Foran was proud of the way Johnson responded following below-par performances against the Panthers and Dragons, and felt his commitment and effort in both games had gone largely unnoticed.
The former Manly and Parramatta playmaker revealed his close mate had been down about the side’s recent run of results but was determined to produce a big game to help get their campaign back on track.
“I’ve spent a lot of time with Shaun this year and I know that the last couple of weeks have really hurt him,” he said.
“I didn’t think he’s been that bad. He’s been really trying and his effort’s been great in every game. His execution sometimes wasn’t there but you can’t knock the bloke’s effort.
“He went out there [on Saturday] with a real intent of wanting to turn things around for this club and you could see how much it meant to him.”
Foran was pleased with the Warriors’ improved attitude and said the players had focused all week on being more aggressive on attack and defence.
After struggling to get a roll on and being out-enthused around the ruck in their last two defeats, the Warriors forwards were much more physical and dominated a Broncos outfit missing six Queensland State of Origin stars.
“We just wanted to tackle hard and run hard, and if you do those two things well across the park, you give yourself every opportunity of winning.
“We wanted to leave blokes on the ground when we ran the footy and really create some ruck speed through the middle.
“Our middle men did a great job of that and allowed the likes of Shaun and Issac [Luke] and Roger [TuivasaSheck] to play off the back of it, which is the style of footy we want to play.
“If we can keep building on that, I’m sure we’ll win a lot more games than we’ll lose.”
The result was the Warriors’ fifth win after 12 rounds and moves them up to 11th, just two points outside the top eight.
They now look ahead to Friday’s clash against the Eels at Sydney’s ANZ Stadium, where they will look to claim their first away win of the season.
Foran was at a loss to explain why the Warriors have been unsuccessful in each of their six games away from Auckland this year but was confident they would prepare well to face his former side.
“We’re so professional in our travel. It’s something I’ve noticed coming here. [The club] get everything right.
“I’m not too sure what it is, why we haven’t been able to win away from here lately but we can start this Friday with a big game against Parramatta.”